ACES, MIXERS DISPUTE FINAL FOUR SEAT IN KO MATCH

Alaska Milk keeping its playoffs romp versus San Mig Coffee or the Mixers going to get back at the Aces?

That’s the question as the two teams clash in a sudden death in their PBA Governors Cup quarterfinals matchup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Friday.

Game time is at 7:15 p.m. with the winner advancing to the best-of-five semifinals opposite the Meralco Bolts. The loser, meanwhile, calls it’s a season.

Alaska is now 4-0 versus San Mig Coffee in playoff matches since fighting back from a Game One loss and beating the Mixers three in a row in their Commissioner’s Cup best-of-five semis showdown.

The Aces went all the way to win the second conference crown, and are now in pursuit of first back-to-back titles in 14 years.

Coach Luigi Trillo and his troops made one important step in their aspiration Wednesday night in stopping the second-seeded Mixers, 112-105, to force a rubber in their quarters showdown.

“We can’t be satisfied now. We can’t celebrate. We have one more game to take care of,” said Trillo after the match.

The Mixers, meanwhile, are not just sulking in the corner.

They know what hit them Wednesday, and they’re eager to get back.

Import Marqus Blakely admitted the Aces played good defense, forcing him to commit crucial lapses at endgame.

“Their (Aces) scheme was just to be very physical on me. They know where I was at all times,” said Blakely, blowing away his near triple-double game with two errors at the finish.

“The last time we played, I had a lot of rebounds. They put a body on me (Wednesday) and played it physical. They did a good job on that,” Blakely also said.

For Marc Pingris, coming back to mind was a number of sorry playoff exits in the recent past.

“Nagbigay na kami ng twice-to-beat advantage. And in the last Commissioner’s Cup semis, we took Game One only to yield the series in the end,” said Pingris.

“Enough is enough. We have to salvage this,” Pingris added. (SB)